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The True Citizen, Wednesday, May 4, 2022 — Page 3A
BURKE
COUNTY'S
FIVE-DAY
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Forecast of the National Weather Service
Rural hospital tax credit program gets clean bill of health
DAVE WILLIAMS
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia’s rural hospital tax
credit program has received
such a positive audit that the
report doesn’t recommend any
improvements.
The annual evaluation of the
tax credit by the Georgia De
partment of Audits & Accounts
released April 28 concluded
that all participating hospitals,
taxpayers and third parties are
complying with the law that
created the program to help
struggling rural hospitals make
ends meet.
The program brought in
$59.4 million in contributions
to eligible rural hospitals last
year, the audit found, nearly
hitting the annual cap of $60
million. Supporters in the
General Assembly introduced
legislation this year to raise the
cap to $100 million but were
forced to settle for $75 million.
Contributions have ap
proached the $60 million cap
during most years since the
program was launched in 2016.
However, donations fell to
$46.5 million in 2019 after a
change in federal law rendered
individual taxpayers ineligible
to receive an income tax deduc
tion for charitable donations if
they received a state tax credit
for the same contribution.
Also, the 2019 audit found
that donations to the program
weren’t necessarily going to
the neediest hospitals, a trend
that continued the following
year.
However, the 2020 audit
concluded that both hospitals
and taxpayers were complying
with the law governing the tax
credit. As a result, contribu
tions in 2020 rebounded to
$54.3 million.
The new audit concluded
that administrative fees the 56
rural hospitals that participate
in the tax credit paid the Geor
gia HEART Hospital Program
to market the program and
process contributions remained
within the 3% limit set by state
law.
Martha Chalker
READING CRISIS IN AMERICA
WHAT’S NEXT?
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After an interview with a
doctor's office back in 2004
for the job as a traveling tutor,
I became so intrigued with
what I saw, I contacted the
parent company in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, and eventu
ally traveled there for training.
I became a licensed provider
for Processing and Cognitive
Enhancement (PACE) and
Master the Code (MTC) in
June of 2004.
Passionate about learning
powerful skills to help students
of all ages achieve educational
and personal growth, I commit
ted to providing high quality
cognitive training and read
ing instruction to families all
across the CSRA. Since then, I
have coached over 70 students
through the programs.
There was a reading crisis
back in 2005 according to The
Nation's Report Card pub
lished by the National Assess
ment of Educational Progress
(NAEP). Dr. Gibson, founder
and president of LeamingRx,
(my parent company) stated
that 2 out of 5 students could
barely read and it affected 1 out
of 3 homes with school-aged
children.
Fast forward to 2022 and
the statistics are not much bet
ter. The Nation's Report Card
2019 showed the 2019 national
percentage at or above NAEP
Proficient was only 34 percent
and the state of Georgia was
only 31 percent. With the ef
fects of the last two years of
school shutdowns and at home
virtual learning, there may be
a more grim picture in the sta
tistics to come.
The effects of COVID on
education have been great.
Students were not given the
opportunity to complete all
the learning they would have
in a typical year. Some who
have disengaged from school
altogether may have slipped
backwards, losing knowledge
or skills they once had. Most
just learned less than they
would have in a typical year,
but still this is important.
Students moving to the next
grade unprepared are missing
key building blocks of knowl
edge that are necessary for
success. Students who repeat
a year are much less likely to
complete school or move on to
higher education. If they have
trouble with reading and spell
ing, it will affect all aspects
of their lives, including job
opportunities, career paths and
earning potential.
Is yours one of those house
holds with a struggling stu
dent? Can your student read?
I have worked with a number
of high school students that
could not read. I have often
wondered how they got as far
as they did!
After approximately ten
weeks of working with one of
those kids I would ask, “What
would you like to do first?”
and he always perked up and
said “Master the Code” [Read
ing skills]. He was excited to
finally feel confident about his
ability to read and continued to
improve as we moved forward.
He has since graduated from
high school, furthered his
education and has been suc
cessfully enjoying the career
path he chose.
Yes, there is a reading crisis
in America, but there is hope.
Easy, fluent reading is the
byproduct of strong cognitive
skills such as auditory process
ing and memory skills, com
bined with a reading system
that puts those strong skills to
good use.
Learning Enhancement
Center provides one on one
training to our students and
can change the way your child
reads in 24 weeks or less.
Your child can learn and read
faster and easier. At Learning
Enhancement Center, we un
derstand why some kids read
well, why others cannot and
what to do about it.
Saturday, May 7
Citizens are invited to bring a
lawn chair to meet local candi
dates and check their voter ID
status at the Waynesboro City
Park at 11 a.m. while early vot
ing begins at the Old Historic
Courthouse.
Thursday, May 12
Burke County Retired Edu
cators Association will meet
at 3 p.m. at Mt. Olive African
Methodist Episcopal Church
on West Seventh Street.
Resignation
Continued from front
also turned in his resignation. In a phone interview April 29,
Baughman confirmed her resignation and said White attempted
to turn in his letter of resignation at her residence, but she refused
it stating that she was no longer the mayor. In response, White
left it on a table at the City Hall, she said.
The resignations took place while the city, under the advise
ment of recently retained attorney Chris Dube, is in the midst of
reorganizing after years of chaotic management practices.
SPLOST
Continued from front
(/)
Representatives from the BOC and Burke County cities met April 26 to discuss how the next
cycle of SPLOST funds will be divided if approved by voters in November.
at the historic courthouse April
26. The officials are four years
into the current six-year pro
gram. The current SPLOST
will end March 2024. Citizens
will likely have the opportunity
to vote on it this November
since it is the only general
election before the current
SPLOST ends. Since the coun
ty shares the money with the
cities, the General Assembly
allows for a six-year versus a
five-year program.
Waldrop commended the
attendees for promoting trust
among the voters who have
favored the one cent sales tax
tool that is aimed toward capi
tal improvements.
“The cities and the county
have done exactly what we said
we would do with SPLOST,”
Waldrop said. “We have all
been very careful to use the
money just as it was supposed
to be used.”
Attendees unanimously
chose to stay with the current
allocation process that is based
on population determined by
the 1990 census versus updat
ing the formula based on the
2020 census. The county’s
revenue projections are con
servative this year based on
anticipated completed con
struction at Plant Vogtle during
this next cycle.
“Our best guess estimate
is $40,500,000 generated by
SPLOST over the next six
years,” Waldrop said. “That is
good news for us.”
Based on the county’s cal
culations, the money will be
divided as follows: Burke
County 67.12%, Waynesboro
24.8%, Sardis 4.28%, Mid-
ville 1.15%, Girard 0.67%,
Keysville 1.50% and Vidette
0.48%.
Next, the county and cit
ies will work up their project
lists by the end of May and
enter into intergovernmental
agreements. The projects will
then be placed on agendas and
voted on during public meet
ings so that citizens can vote
on the SPLOST referendum in
November.
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1) "Great" beasts
5) ChapStick, e.g.
9) House of the lord
14) Parcel's partner
15) "Got it"
16) Admiral Byrd book
17) "Clear the 1"
18) "Strawberry" horse
19) "Song of the South" uncle
20) Eggs, slangily
23) World's record suffix
24) Hold in high regard
25) Took the plunge
27) Stylist's need
29) Patronizes, as a bistro
33) Badmouth
37) "Jake's Thing" author
39) "Aladdin" parrot
40) Past one's prime
43) bene
44) Heroic exploit
45) Is short of
46) Aesopian characters
48) Don't just sit there
50) "Full," on B'way
51) Mount Hood's state
56) Hunk's asset
59) Sedentary type
63) "Gladiator" setting
65) Show approval, in a way
66) Primitive abodes
67) noodles (cheap meal)
68) Act the 59-Across
69) "A Death in the Family"
author
70) Use the firehouse pole
71) Blown away
72) Uncool type
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DOWN
1) At full speed
2) Legal aides, informally
3) At attention
4) Vampire's undoing
5) Galley of yore
6) Starting on
7) King of tragedy
8) Chalkboard list, maybe
9) Weasel cousin
10) India pale
11) 1890s gold rush city
12) Heavy load
13) Break between notes
21) Cubism pioneer Fernand
22) "Ifonly!"
26) Clear in winter
28) Pool divisions
29) Formal decrees
30) Japanese rice wine
31) See 40-Across
32) Zillions
33) Paquin of "The Piano"
34) Timely blessing
35) Source of bubbly
36) Bombards with e-junk
38) Classic British sports cars
41) Hemispherical home
42) "101" class, for short
47) Understood by few
49) Agreed to, as a plea
52) Hawke of "Boyhood"
53) Get a feel for
54) Web-footed mammal
55) Barely beat, with "out"
56) Watering holes
57) Viva voce
58) "Skyscraper" singer Lovato
60) Daily Bruin sch.
61) Lobster part
62) "Purple " (Hendrix classic)
64) Literary harpooner Land
ANSWERS ON 5B